


Take it, it's yours

by Aoftheis



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cape Cod, Fluff, M/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension, a dreamy happy hopeful moment, implied past Ash/Shorter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-23 01:22:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17070797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aoftheis/pseuds/Aoftheis
Summary: "Hey, Eiji — I hear Ash stole your first kiss."





	Take it, it's yours

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, fandom. ♥ The anime's ending, so here's a stolen moment of fluff and hope to ease your pain. It's set during the calm interlude of that early roadtrip arc.

It's beautiful, out here in Cape Cod. Eiji knows nowhere is safe — Ash has told him so often enough — but you could almost fool yourself into thinking it is, for now. Miles from New York, breeze coming in from off the ocean, open skies and endless fields.

"Hey, Eiji," Shorter says, throwing an arm around Eiji's shoulders.

"Hm?"

They're seated at the base of a huge tree: Eiji looking up through the canopy, pointing out shapes in the clouds, Shorter humouring him, Ash somewhere up above, perched in the branches, looking out over the field.

Shorter grins. "I hear Ash stole your first kiss."

Heat washes over Eiji as memory flares up — Ash's thumb stroking his cheek; that soft, strange look on his face; the feeling of his tongue slipping gently into Eiji's mouth. He thinks about it, sometimes, when Ash looks at him for a moment too long, holding the burning memory of the kiss somewhere low in his belly. He knows he shouldn't; he doubts Ash would want him to. He doubts Ash thinks of it at all.

Ash's voice drifts down from above, ominously calm: "Who told you that?"

"Heard it from Ibe. Grabbed his ass, too? Bad boy, Ash."

"It was not like that," Eiji protests. He's squirming to get out of Shorter's grasp, trying to avoid looking up at Ash, aware that he must sound as flustered as he feels. "It was — I am happy to help Ash out, anytime."

"Oh?" Shorter teases, leaning in close, too close. Eiji feels the cool plastic of Shorter's sunglasses smash up against his cheek. He can feel Ash's glare radiate down upon them without even looking up. "So, was it good? Ash is a great kisser, huh?"

 _Thud_ — as Ash drops down from the tree, landing in the grass beside them. He really is like a cat sometimes. Eiji's spent a long time watching other athletes in top form, running, leaping, twisting through the air, but none of them can compare to that arresting grace that seems to come to Ash so naturally.

"A way better kisser than you," Ash growls. "Get off of him, you horny fucker."

Shorter gets to his feet and holds his palms up in surrender, then shoves them in his pockets and saunters off. He winks at Eiji as he goes.

Ash sighs, leaning back against the tree and closing his eyes. "Shorter really is a lousy kisser," he says. "No technique. Don't let him corner you."

"I won't," Eiji says faintly, bewildered. There's definitely a stone to be turned over _there_ , but he can't manage to put the question together, not with Ash sitting so close beside him, knee bumping against knee. The soft, thin cotton of Ash's t-shirt flutters in the wind, exposing a little glimpse of collarbone. His hair is a very deep golden colour in the sunlight.

Eiji likes Shorter: his broad shoulders, his easy laugh. What would it be like to kiss him? It's a nice thought, but it's crowded out right away by thoughts of Ash: by that unruly maelstrom of emotions that knock around in Eiji's chest whenever Ash is nearby. The moment Ash walks into a room, nothing and nobody else seems quite as sharp, quite as _real_. 

Eiji can't help but think of that stolen kiss. Ash drawing him in closer, Ash's warm, open mouth, Ash's heavy gaze, pinning him like a butterfly — as if they'd been all alone in that room, just the two of them, and not surrounded by a dozen guards and inmates.

"Eiji."

"Hm?"

"That wasn't really your first kiss, was it?"

"Uh," Eiji says. "Uh, no. Sort of." He can't really lie, not to Ash. "Yes."

"Oh, my God," Ash moans. "Eiji, _really_?! You're _nineteen_." He shakes his head. "Guess I should've thought of a different way. Sorry."

"No, that was a good way," Eiji says, without really thinking it through. "It was a good first kiss." What is he even _saying_? He was never a smooth talker, but being around Ash seems to make it so much worse.

Ash glances at Eiji sideways. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Eiji echoes softly. He knows his face says too much, knows that he's staring at Ash's lips, but he can't seem to look away.

"Sorry!" Eiji says abruptly. "Sorry I am so — bad. At kissing."

"Apology accepted," Ash says, with his trademark smirk. Eiji makes a face back at him, a little mock-pout.

After a few moments Ash looks away, and he mutters, so quiet that Eiji almost doesn't catch it: "You're not bad. It was good. You have a sweet mouth."

"Oh," is all Eiji can think of to say.

Then he just sits there, feeling edgy and delicious and hot all over — wishing Ash would kiss him again, hoping he won't; knowing Ash can probably guess exactly what he's thinking, wondering how that makes him feel.

The corners of Ash's mouth lift in a mischievous smile that sets Eiji's stomach fluttering.

"Though, when I kissed you," Ash says, voice sliding into something low and dark, "that little sighing noise you made? Now that was _bad_."

At first, Eiji's not sure what the English word "bad" means in this context; Ash's tone and expression make it pretty clear, though.

"I did not!" Eiji says, feeling equal parts flustered and indignant.

"You did," Ash says, his amusement evident, and it feels like flirtation, but this sweet, teasing warmth is nothing like those glassy looks of seduction that he's seen Ash use on men.

"You have a very high opinion of your abilities," Eiji manages, finally.

Ash just laughs. "Anyway," he says, and his voice softens. "Don't let anyone else hear that noise."

It's impossible, Eiji thinks later, that this is what happened next: that Ash leaned forward and stroked his thumb gently across Eiji's bottom lip: that he held it there, staring at Eiji's mouth for a long moment, eyes soft, before abruptly getting to his feet.

Dizzy and blinking and barely breathing, Eiji just sits there staring up at Ash. He feels as if he's under some magic spell, some heavy enchantment. When he finally comes back to his senses Ash is standing there above him, silhouetted against the sun. The smile on his face is open and easy now, with nothing of that dark, teasing flicker.

"Come on," Ash says. He reaches down a hand. "Let's get going. We have to find Shorter. So that I can kick his ass."

Obediently, Eiji lets himself be tugged to his feet. He follows along behind Ash through the long grass, not saying much, his thumb rubbing absently against his lips — feeling the ghost of a touch, wondering.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to cry over Banana Fish together, I'm on [twitter](http://twitter.com/aoftheis) and [tumblr](http://aoftheis.tumblr.com) @aoftheis.


End file.
